Battle of Binh Gia

The Battle of Binh Gia was a major battle of the Vietnam War which was fought from 28 December 1964 to 1 January 1965 in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam (40 miles southeast of Saigon). The battle was a major Viet Cong and North Vietnamese victory which was praised as a "little Dien Bien Phu" by Ho Chi Minh and a decisive victory by Le Duan.

In 1964, Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Le Duan successfully escalated North Vietnam's involvement in the Vietnam War in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, planning an offensive into South Vietnam to destroy the weak government. He sent 2,000 PAVN regulars and Viet Cong guerrillas into Phuoc Thuy, a supposedly pacified province less than 40 miles southeast of Saigon, where they were to target the strategic hamlet of Binh Gia, home to 6,000 Catholic anti-communist refugees. Their plan was to seize the hamlet and then annihilate the forces Saigon was sure to send to retake it. Tons of heavy weapons (mortars, machine-guns, recoilless rifles, and others) were smuggled onto the coast under the cover of darkness. On 28 December, Viet Cong advance units easily overwhelmed the village militia and occupied Binh Gia. When two crack South Vietnamese ranger companies were airlifted to Binh Gia the next day, they were ambushed and suffered heavy losses. On the morning of 30 December, the elite ARVN 4th Marine Battalion (the "Killer Sharks") arrived and forced the Viet Cong to withdraw east of the village. The Viet Cong set up positions at a nearby plantation and shot down a helicopter, and Lieutenant Philip O. Brady and the 4th Battalion were sent to recover the remains the following morning. The Viet Cong ambushed the ARVN marines, killing 12 as they advanced towards the downed helicopter. A US helicopter eventually arrived and provided fire support before taking the US bodies, although they left the South Vietnamese bodies behind. Now beyond artillery range, the US and ARVN troops were forced to withdraw before the Viet Cong counterattacked. The Viet Cong, for the first time, shelled the ARVN troops before attacking, and, when the mortars stopped, bugles blew as waves of Viet Cong advanced on the badly outnumbered ARVN troops. The ARVN troops ultimately broke out, with only 11 of the original 26 troops surviving. That night, the Viet Cong carried away their wounded and shot any South Vietnamese survivors. 5 Americans and 200 South Vietnamese had been killed at Binh Gia, while 200 more were wounded; only 32 Viet Cong bodies were left behind.